KARACHI Pakistan, on 14th September 2016, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters at the OECD Headquarters in Paris. Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Finance and Revenue of Pakistan, signed the Convention on behalf of Pakistan in the presence of Mr. Angel Gurría, the Secretary General OECD. After the signing ceremony, bilateral talks were held between the Pakistani delegation headed by the Finance Minister and the OECD officials headed by the Secretary General OECD. In the bilateral talks, the OECD officials appreciated Pakistan’s rating as ‘Largely Compliant’ jurisdiction by the Global Forum on transparency and exchange of tax information. The Secretary General also presented the 2nd Peer Review Report on Pakistan to the Finance Minister published by OECD.
The OECD had invited Pakistan on 26th July, 2016 to sign the Multilateral Convention after a long and consistent process undertaken by FBR, including peer reviews by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and several amendments in the domestic tax laws. The signing of the Multilateral Convention demonstrates Pakistan’s strong commitment to adopt international best practices in the field of tax matters and exchange of information to combat offshore tax evasion through mutual administrative assistance with other Parties to the Convention.
The Multilateral Convention is the most powerful instrument for international tax cooperation. It provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations, assistance in tax collection and service of notices and documents.